After our big California trip of last year, our family vacation was a bit shorter and less expensive this year, giving us and our wallet time to recover.
We started in Atlanta, spending the first night at the cheapest lodging we could - my son, Doug. It was a nice visit, including dinner at metro Atlanta's Chinatown, which is basically a mall called...Chinatown. We will be spending more time with Doug next month, in conjunction with Benjamin's robot camp at Georgia Tech.
We traveled to the wilds of Kentucky, and spent some time at Shaker Village, a religious community, or the place where there was at one time a religious community.
They made all their own stuff, and are famous for their furniture, like the chair pictured above. I saw lots of chairs there. Lots. And other furniture that Alison knew the names for, but I identified as....furniture.
There was an antique show there. The two boxes above were "on sale" for a combined north of $500. I think Alison called one of them a pantry box. I called them something we would not own anytime soon.
This teddy bear. dating from the nineteenth century, was selling for around $300. That may be in part due to the addition of the ribbon.
This woman was using a very elaborate machine to make a rug. It was only powered by her hands and feet. It took several days just to set up the pattern. We don't do this anymore in the United States. We now have electric powered machines and Bangladesh children to do it.
The Shakers slept, ate, and did work in different quarters. They were celibate, concentrating their energy on other things. This seems like a bad long term strategy to me. It is evidenced in part by the fact that Shaker Village is now basically a museum and not an operating community.
Benjamin considered converting.
Well.....another blow to my one day becoming a Grandfather.
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